We have been changing to an RV full time lifestyle for some time, while raising our grandson. Our journeys have taken us to quite a few places, with a few unique experiences along the way. This blog will hopefully prove entertaining as well as informational... Welcome!
1 Sept. 2016 TJ has a Lumphoma on his right side that has grown to the size of a softball in the last couple of months. Shortly after we got back to Alberta from the US we had it looked at by a couple of doctors. He had to have a CT scan requested by a specialist.... His family doctor then had him get an MRI.... The specialist, who was away when the CT results came in said he did not need an MRI and then booked him a date for surgery, which was today.
The surgery went smoothly, and we are staying in Spruce Grove tonight while TJ relaxes on the couch and watches TV lol.
We have had a relatively quiet summer, as we wait for the surgery date to arrive, as well as hoping to get some results for my ongoing back problems.
Currently I am scheduled for an MRI on the 2 Oct., but am also on a cancellation list, so am hoping to get something sooner, rather than later.
Friday, 3 June was sunny and promising to be a beautiful weekend as we packed up our dogs and Grandson TJ before heading to Carrie's place in Spruce Grove for the weekend.
We had been there last weekend so it was our turn to do supper so we stopped at Costco en route to pick up some stuff for the BBQ on Saturday.
Besides visiting, I wanted to take TJ to the Kinsmen Rodeo in Stony Plain. We had been there a couple of years ago (2014), and we were looking forward to going again. Recently I had started a web site at SMUGMUG.com with the idea of selling photos and thought the rodeo could possibly provide a jump start, as the action at these venues is exciting to photograph.
The link to the site: https://donr-photo.smugmug.com/
Friday the rodeo ran from 7-10 PM and TJ did not feel like going so I went by myself to see what was available for seating. There were a number of other photographers there with some pretty big lenses so I am hoping to be able to see their stuff on the internet at some point in time.
He had to grab onto the rails before the bronc crashed into them
The lighting was great as the sun does not set until 9:45 PM these days which made for some dramatic shots.
Two young girls provided quite a show with trick riding
On Saturday, TJ came with me as he wanted to go on the rides and play some of the games more than he wanted to see the rodeo, but it was nice to have him along. We got there just after 1 PM which gave us a couple of hours before the rodeo started this day. The rides were the usual and I am thinking TJ has been to enough of them as his enthusiasm is starting to wane....
Houston Stuart
There were a lot more people at the rodeo and fair today (Saturday) but we were still able to get an excellent spot right next to the arena. The rodeo was fun, although there were not that many bucking broncos or wild bull riding which are crowd favourites.
The clown was excellent, a fellow by the name of Houston Stuart, who is an ex Bull Rider.
There were lots and lots of women in the Barrel Racing and I have had good luck photographing them in the past at the first turn....
This horse stumbled badly, but she kept her seat and finished her ride!
We did not go to the rodeo on Sunday, as Darlene's Mom is coming to visit us in Vegreville so Darlene can take her to the hospital for a procedure.
7 May, 2016 Mothers Day - This year we were able to spend it with my Mother and also had a beautiful day to boot! Tony (younger brother) had showed up prior and had brought over some salmon that he had cooked up the day before. After a visit we (Darlene, TJ, the dogs and I) took Mom for a long walk outside to enjoy the weather. A couple of days ago we had visited Mom for the first time since we got back and also saw my brother Bob and his wife Wendy who were over to see both their Moms on the weekend. We also made a trip in on Saturday to catch up with Mom.
14 May, 2016
We have been in Chilliwack, BC, for a week now, at Cottonwood RV Park, which is just off the freeway next to Chilliwack. The park is not bad in that it has excellent wifi, clean bathrooms and showers, which do not cost, and easy sites to get into and out of.
There are paved roads throughout although the sites are gravel and somewhat private. There is a laundry, and hot tub (currently out of service), which is the extent of the amenities. The price is 570/month which is pretty good. We are in site 44 which we had to move to after finding out the last site did not have satellite access due to the trees all around.
Last Friday we went to Abbotsford and watched Liam (3yrs old) play soccer and then on Sat. we watched Ethan (6 yrs old) play baseball.
Ethan (6) a T-Ball
Ethan - mucho concentration
Future Power Hitter
Liam (3)
Liam running in a Dragon Race
Both boys are involved in sports of all kinds and are quite the going concern. My daughter Kendra dropped them off for us this Friday so we have them for the weekend, which has turned out to be a LOT of fun! They totally love TJ and look up to him quite a bit. They brought their gloves, scooters, and bikes, so the boys have been busy with those.
Yesterday we took the boys to Mill Lake in Abbotsford for a walk around the park and to see what bugs they could catch. It got windy as the afternoon moved on and we ended up leaving a bit early so we could pick up some hot dog buns for supper.
Monday, 2 May (268 Miles driving Vancouver, Washington, to Vancouver, Canada)
I was up early, as sleeping in a Rest Area, regardless of how quiet, is always a bit restless, and although I got a good 6 hours of sleep, I was still anxious to go before the sun was up. That time of day just before the sun rises is my favourite, as the birds start singing and the air has a special smell in it to herald the onset of a new day, full of adventures!
Made coffee, warmed up car, Darlene got up, I took dogs out for a pee/walk, and we were on the road @ 06:00 !! We made excellent time, until we came to Olympia, and then Monday morning rush hour slowed us right down. Driving thru Seattle on I-5 during rush hour in your RV is a special treat to those who do not plan too careful lol!
Actually, we went on the HOV lanes and made pretty good time thru Seattle, all things considered.
At 12:22 we pulled in to the Sumas Gas Station we are quite familiar with and topped up the Motorhome. The fuel here was the cheapest we found during our travels! The only time it was cheaper was down in Arizona in Jan. when fuel dropped around the world and we were able to get it for 1.59 / Gal.
Total Trip back was different than last year... 2060 Miles in total.
The fellow at the border was great and we were soon on our way to the RV place in Chilliwack that had a couple of spots that would accommodate us. Vancouver, Canada is where a lot of my immediate relatives are (Mother, Daughter, grandkids, brother), so we plan to put down our roots here for about a month. Hope to get caught up with a bunch of Scuba Diving buddies and fellows I used to work with for many years.
Trip mileage summary:
Lake Havasu - Page 338 Miles
Page - Cathedral Gorge 268 Miles
Cathedral Gorge - Reno 446 Miles
Reno - Yreka 357 Miles
Yreka - Portland 351 Miles
Portland - Canada Border 268 Miles
We took our time heading home, with a number of layovers to sightsee and finding a spot to camp early in the day.
Last year we travelled with my Uncle Bill and Aunt Marg (from Winnipeg, Manitoba) who have wintered in Lake Havasu for many years. On the way back last year they had left their 5th Wheel in storage at Lake Havasu and drove their car with us, camping with us as we travelled, as their end destination was via Vancouver, BC, in order to visit my Mother there.
We took a different route last year, travelling through Bakersfield, San Francisco, and then over to the coast highway so we could wonder at the Redwoods and Oregon Coast along the way, heading back to the I-5 at Astoria.
Sun. 1 May, 2016 Yreka, California - Vancouver, Washington (351 Miles for the day)
We were up bright and early, drove the car around a bit to get the gears lubricated before hooking up and heading out on the I-5, heading north to Canada.
I have a good friend (Tim) who lives in Bend, Oregon whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years and while we were driving north, and as soon as it was acceptable to call, I called to see if he was free today and would he be able to drive over the mountain range to meet us in Springfield as we passed thru about noon. We talked for a bit on the phone and then agreed to meet "somewhere in Springfield"
There was a Walmart in Springfield, but while en route I decided to fuel up at a Pilot that was just north of Medford, Oregon. It was close to the freeway so I thought it prudent to fill up at this time.....
Yes, there is a story here.... Well, for whatever reason, I pulled in to where the cars and pickups pull up instead of the truck area. (Mistake #1, because the truck fuel nozzles are big and pump quite fast). Next, I pulled up behind a Mercedes car, thinking he would be fast (Mistake #2, because the guys who were pumping fuel (in Oregon there is no self serve) had to page him twice because I waited 15 minutes for him to come out of the store...."I had to go to the bathroom" he said in reply to my comment that he should have some consideration for others wanting to fuel up. I was upset, and let him know that I thought that if he had to go to the bathroom, perhaps he could do it on his own time and maybe park somewhere else than the fuel pumps..... Jeez!!!!
I had to call my friend to tell him we would be late, but turns out he was taking longer than anticipated also. The Walmart we went to had a VERY sharp turn into it as well as only 1 lane... Had to get Darlene out to ensure we could get in, as the rear tires went up on the curb this time, while the front was rubbing the curb! We made it OK, had a wonderful lunch with Tim and got caught up on some happenings on our lives. It was about 2 1/2 hours for lunch, but most definitely worth it. It took Tim 1 1/2 hours to drive there, but I would do the same for him, if he was in the area. Good friends are few, and we treasure those we have!
After we left Tim, the landscape became more and more familiar in that it was what we were used to with trees and mountains. lol. Oregon and Washington both have wonderful rest areas on the major freeways, and tonight we stopped at one just north of Portland, in Washington state. They allow you to stay for 8 hours, and we did that, after I had cleaned the front end of bugs, which were plastered all over it!
Sat. 30 April
Today we started off by packing up again (not that much to do) and went over to Les Schwabb in Sparks to get some tire rotation on the Motorhome.
Rotating tires at Les Schwabb
While they were working on it we went to Denny's for breakfast and then we had to wait a little while longer as there were some big trucks in front of us but we we done in a couple of hours. They took the 2 right rear dual tires, mounted them on the front rims, balanced them and sent us on our way ($165)..... Reno was a pricey spot in regards to vehicle repairs.
Anyway, following the repairs, we headed west at 1140 AM on the I-80, with the idea of making it back to Canada fairly quickly, as TJ is getting low on some of his pills. Our path today will take us straight West until we hit the I-5 and then straight north.
356 miles
The landscape changed as we drove west and then north. We began to see larger and larger trees, lots of grass, and familiar vegetation. Mount Shasta came into view as we continued our journey north.
We ended up pulling into Yreka Walmart for the night at 7:00 PM as I was getting tired and the sun was starting to get low. (356 Miles today).
There must have been some drag races going on as we could hear their engines roaring until 10 PM.
Friday, and I was up early in order to get the RV over to Reno Freightliner to get the "Check Engine" light looked at as well as the shimmy in the front end and also to have the generator oil filter changed as I was not able to loosen it when I changed the oil at 200 hours. It now sits at 247 hours on the diesel generator.
After dropping the RV off we went and grabbed breakfast at Denny's, took the dogs for a nice walk and play at a nearby park and then decided to go to Carson City and Virginia City after finding out that they would probably be most of the day on the RV.
Carson City, about 30 miles South of Reno, was not that large or interesting, except for the fact that it is the Capitol of Nevada and was named after mountain man Kit Carson. Virginia City, on the other hand, was pretty cool. It was once the "Richest city in the West" and is now an interesting tourist attraction with the old houses, mining history, boardwalks and saloons.
We found a parking spot fairly easily and took the dog carriage out for the dogs and walked up and down Main Street, stopping to check out some of the more interesting attractions.
There was a museum, that had a lot of neat old stuff, and an interesting video on the history which we went in to see. There was also a place selling salt water toffey at a buck a pound that we had to stock up on as well
Darlene checked out some dresses and also the McKay Mansion while TJ tried out some cotton candy ice cream and I took some photos.
Following Virginia City we took a steep (15% Grade) and windy road to Carson city (Capital of Nevada) followed by a drive to Lake Tahoe. We didn't stay long in Tahoe as it was getting on towards supper and we wanted to get the RV back.
Darlene drove most of the way back and the RV still wasn't ready so we went to the Black Bear for supper and sure enough got a call that our Coach could be picked up.
It started to rain heavily and was dark by the time we pulled out of the Freightliner yard, 578 bucks poorer. They had done the front end alignment, although they said it wasn't that far out, recommended either new front tires or rotate them with some of the back ones. They had also done an upgrade on the EGR monitor for free and replaced the oil filter on the Diesel Generator that had been too tight for normal people to remove, lol.
It wasn't until we got back to the RV Park and turned on the lights that we found that whoever had taken the RV out for a test drive had been pretty rough on it as the Apple Computer had been knocked down and stuff in the fridge had been knocked down as well. Will have to mention something to them tomorrow before we leave.
Parking the RV in a tight spot in the dark was not easy so I think we will start having Darlene park while I direct in the future to see if that works more efficiently.
Travel day. (360 miles)
Overcast, but no wind when I got up but the forecast was for intermittent showers and snow at the higher elevations. I decided to attach the second 28" jury-rigged windshield wiper as we are going to need both of them working today and until we get to an RV place.
We were up, packed and left Cathedral Grove at 0855. Within minutes of leaving the campsite it started to rain. Not heavy, just a light intermittent rain that persisted all day long, changing to snow when we got above 5600 ft.
Our route today would keep us on back roads which were not that populated.
Section is called "Loneliest Road" and
it was pretty quiet, and high in elevation
but, basically pretty smooth 2 lane hwy.
It was also generally high in elevation. One section of the road is called "The Loneliest Road" on the Rand McNally map which we didn't notice until we were already committed to the route lol.
TJ stayed in the back reading for most of the day as there was not much to see on this path and not much traffic. There is a slight "shimmy" on the front end which comes and goes between 50 and 70 mph. We will have to get that checked out ASAP.
Travel Route so far, not counting side trips to Monument Valley,
Arches National Park and Grand Canyon (South Rim)
We had figured we could get a spot in Reno but when we arrived we found "No Vacancy" signs out which meant we had to scramble to find another RV spot that had a place..... Luckily "Shamrock RV" in Sparks (suburb of Reno) had available sites on their phone recording so we put that into the GPS and headed there. It was only about 10 minutes out of downtown and there was a site right at the front we could get in to, so we booked ourselves in (past 5:00 PM when the office closed) and settled in for the night. This park was convenient, but the pool was closed (still cold in the mornings) and the wifi was not very reliable.
Thursday, 28 April
Today is a "cleaning day", so after making an appointment with the local Freightliner tomorrow to have 3 items looked at TJ & I hunted down an RV dealer in the hopes of finding a windshield wiper that would fit our RV. Darlene was busy cleaning up the RV as we have a lot of dust and sand inside from the time at Page, Arizona.
We found a place that had 32 inch wiper blades BUT they are 48 bucks each..... With the exchange that is close to 65 dollars each! Decided that the 28 inch worked pretty well, so I replaced the driver side and kept the 28 inch as a spare.
Next was a hand wash of the lower 1/2 of the outside of the motorhome, which took up the rest of my afternoon as driving thru the snow and rain causes the lower half to get dirty while the top receives little road dirt, it seems.
Around 5:30 we decided to take a look at downtown and see if there were any good spots to eat.... Well, after Vegas, Reno seemed pretty small and quiet, heh heh. After driving around and sightseeing, we went back for supper at the motorhome and shut it down for the night as we have to pack up and take the motorhome in for repairs tomorrow am.
Page > Zion National Park > Cathedral Gorge (270 miles today, 605 miles total from Lake Havasu)
Tuesday, it is overcast when I put the coffee on and then take the dogs out for their pee in the Walmart Parking Lot. There are a LOT of RVs in this parking lot. I count 14 plus a couple of big trucks have joined our midst as well.
We are heading for Reno, Nevada, but have no idea whether we will make it today or not, as we plan to go thru Zion National Park, which will definitely mean a stop or two along the way.
Darlene is up early as well and together we get everything ready and before you know it, we are on the road at 7:10 AM.
Total trip to date, not counting side trips
2 Hours later we enter Zion National Park. The cost for a vehicle is $30.00. Now comes the interesting part where we have 2 problems. 1)We are high.... 12' 9" so we need to pony up another $15.00 for an "escort" thru the 2nd tunnel. What they do is they stop traffic from coming thru the other side because the tunnel is only 13' 1" high at the middle (and lower at the sides), which means we have to drive down the centre of the second tunnel. There are other high vehicles so all traffic is only 1 way thru there, but only the really high guys have to pay extra. 2)We are long..... 43' plus we have a Tow Vehicle. The problem here is that there are a lot of sharp corners thru the park which means we have to cross over the centre line to make it unless we do not tow the car..... No problem to disconnect the car and Darlene can drive it thru. (I thought for a minute they were going to make me pay separate for the car now, lol, but they didn't).
Zion is very pretty right now, (I think it is quite pretty always, lol), but a tad chilly as the elevation is around 6000 ft. above sea level. We have to stop a couple of times for traffic and tourists, as well as the second tunnel has rangers that make you stop and ensure you know how to drive thru the tunnel..... DOWN THE MIDDLE.....
heh heh.
The roads are paved red,
to match the hills
At the other end of Zion there is camping, so we pull over in the small town on the side of the road where parking is allowed. Our plan is to drive back thru the park so that Darlene can enjoy it and then switch drivers and Darlene can drive back while I enjoy the sights.
This is because when we first drove thru we were too busy driving to enjoy anything else!
As we enter the park again the Ranger tells us of a pet friendly trail just up the road by the campsite, which is fully booked up.
Later in the year there are big
waterfalls throughout the park
The dogs were anxious to get out for a walk so we stopped there and took them for a walk. On the way back, along the river, Nikko started to favour his left front paw, so Darlene picked him up and carried him back to the car. Later that day she finally found a 1/2 inch piece of wood or seed had penetrated between his toes making it sore for him to walk.
We drove just to the second tunnel and then turned around, as the tunnel is only one way, and is very very long.
Yes, there are cactus in Zion!
When we got back to where the Motorhome was, we found some A__Hole from Nevada had parked his car within inches of the front of the motorhome, making it difficult to get out, as someone was also parked close to our back, although we did have some room there.
TJ directed me back so that I could get out of the tight squeeze. Before we left however, I did leave a note on his window thanking him for leaving me no room to leave and letting him know what I thought of him.
After we left Zion, we continued west until we hit I-15 and headed north on that until we came to I-56 where we elected to head west on our route to Reno..... Hwy 56 is quiet, a good road, but not that scenic. We thought we might have a long way between fuel stops so we topped up the tank just outside of Cedar City. (82 gal. = $200.00) and continued on our way.
Darlene had been checking the maps and there was a place called "Cathedral Gorge" that claimed to have a state park and some slot canyons, so we decided to try that spot out for the night.
It is a nice campground, and was pretty well full. There were some sights dedicated (pull thru) for big rigs but smaller trailers were parked in them as I guess they couldn't be bothered to back into a smaller sight, even though there were signs posted everywhere to leave them for larger rigs. We thought we might have to continue on but there was a handicapped site that the sign said we could use if all others were full, so we took it..... Turns out it was the nicest sight in the place lol, as it was paved underneath and was the only spot that had 50 amp service! Close by were the washrooms and showers (free) as well as a tetherball for TJ. 3 minutes down the road were the slot canyons, which we went over to explore as soon as the rain cloud moved on.
The "slot canyons" are pretty neat as they are narrow passages etched in the hardened mud like hills here.
They do not compare with Antelope Canyon, but they are cheap and you can go wherever you like..... At one point we were quite deep in one (very quiet in these as the walls are high and blanket sound), when suddenly a large raven overhead (which we were not aware of being watched) suddenly gave a loud warning cry.... We all jumped and TJ gave a big screech and bolted for the way we had come in. It was pretty funny as the raven had a nest close by and didn't want us getting any closer.
We have a big day tomorrow so were in bed fairly early after watching a movie on Netflix. (Ahhh, now this is "roughing" it, lol).
Upper Antelope Canyon Tour
Yup, we didn't move very far, as it was windy, and cloudy, with the odd shower thrown in, so we decided that since we had no rush to travel, there were a few items left to be done while we were in town so we left the campsite and drove about 10 miles to the Walmart in Page, where we managed to snag a fairly protected spot after waiting for the trucker to leave it, heh heh. Antelope Canyon is very close to Page and is the most photographed Slot Canyon in the world and a place I have wanted to see for a long time, so I took a drive (10 minute) out to see about a tour.
When I arrived 4 busses had just pulled up and it looked like it was going to be pretty busy for a while, so I took note of the prices (8.00 to gain entrance to the area where they have their booth, then 40.00 for a 1.5 hour tour..... No tripods, monopods, backpacks are allowed either. If you want to go on a "photographer's tour" it is $128.00 that apparently gets you more time and less people are crowded into the canyon than normal.
There are 4 or 5 different native tour groups taking people so it can get really crowded in the summer.
I left as it was getting really windy and people coming back from the tour had sand all over their coats and in their hair. The man at the booth had told me there are no refunds once you leave in the jeep and if I didn't like sand falling on me it probably wasn't a good idea to go today. With those thoughts in mind, I took my leave, thinking to try later in the day when it might not be so busy.....
I had noticed the other day that both windshield wipers had fallen apart during our 4 month stay in Lake Havasu, with the blades in the sun for much of the time..... they needed to be replaced, especially in light of the fact that it was raining and more was forecast in the upcoming days.
Well, these are 32" wiper blades and not available anywhere but at an RV dealer, so I picked up a couple of 28" blades at Walmart and then found that the "snap" clip that keeps them on the arm of the wiper would not "snap" close as the wiper arm was too big and thick. I jury-rigged one by tying a zap strap around the clip so that it stayed closed..... It worked!.... Hopefully until we can find an RV dealer, as there is none in Page, Arizona.
Once the wiper blades were attached there was not much left for me to do as Darlene was busy with TJ and his school for the remainder of the morning and a good part of the afternoon by the looks of things, so I opted to head back out to Antelope Canyon to see if it was still busy.
There are 2 canyons worth noting here, Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. When I was there in the morning at the Upper Antelope Canyon I asked about the pricing for Lower Antelope and was told they were closed. Well, they weren't, it was simply other tour companies that ran it and the guy in the booth just wanted to make sure my sheckels went towards his company I guess.
Anyway, I got out there about 1:15 and was told the next tour was 2 PM. There was only a couple of cars in the parking lot so I paid my money and went back to the car, as the wind was pretty bad, and there was lots of sand being kicked up by it.
At 2 pm we got on the jeep type safari vehicle (no windows) and headed out, as it is a 10 minute drive to the slot canyon. There were 13 of us in the group, with 4 girls from New Yahk, a family of 4 from Paris, France, a couple from St. Louis, and another couple from Colorado. The guide was a young native woman named Felicity who gave us an amazing tour.
Entrance to Upper Antelope Canyon
The first thing she did was congratulate us all on taking the tour as it was windy and raining and did not look very promising. She also said the wind would blow sand on us in the canyon and also on the way back in the jeep. Once we got to the canyon, I was happy to see only a couple of other jeeps there, and the wind had died down almost completely!
4 Girls from New York on tour
It turns out those 2 other groups had already been thru and were on their way out so they passed by us going the opposite direction as we made our way thru the canyon. Basically, you enter the canyon, walk thru it, exit at the other end, and then walk back the same way to the beginning.... Basically, that is it, but our guide made our tour very enjoyable by pointing out camera angles, mentioning camera (well, camera phone) setting suggestions, and also good spots for shots. It really was pretty special, and she mentioned that she had heard of there being hardly anyone there only once before in the 5 years she had been giving tours there, so we were really really lucky!
I took photos with both my DSLR and also my iphone, which does an amazing job in that department.
Below are some of my favourite photos from the tour.
TJ has a Lumphoma on his right side that has grown to the size of a softball in the last couple of months. Shortly after we got back to Alberta from the US we had it looked at by a couple of doctors. He had to have a CT scan requested by a specialist.... His family doctor then had him get an MRI.... The specialist, who was away when the CT results came in said he did not need an MRI and then booked him a date for surgery, which was today.
